Built on LinuxCOE a powerful set of tools recently open sourced by Hewlett Packard, Instalinux makes installing Linux easier than ever.

Typically, installing Linux means downloading (or buying) one or more ISO images, and then clicking through the install screens. In an effort to make Linux installs easier, some smart folks at HP developed LinuxCOE, where a user could choose some basic options through a web interface, and a small (30MB or less) ISO image is generated that can be used for a "hands-free" installation using either Kickstart, AutoYAST, or the Debian Preseed autoinstallers.

That code has been released as an Open Source project, and the installer component is now available through a free web site, instalinux.com.

Users can choose from Fedora, SuSE, Debian and Ubuntu, select their system parameters, pick a public mirror to install from, and then download the ISO image that is generated. It’s easy and free. There's also a forum set up where users can ask questions or discuss the site.

This is a handy tool, whether you have a single system to install, or several hundred.